Belt fastener, clasp, or buckle.



No. 704,437. Patented July 8, I902.

M. CUCHRAN.

BELT FASTENER, CLASP, 0R BUCKLE.

(Application filed June 6, 1901.]

(No Model.)

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UNTTED STATES i PATENT OFFICE.

MARIA COOHRAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

BELT FASTENER, CLASP, OR BUCKLE.

"SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 704,437, dated July 8, 1902.

Application filed June 6,1901. Serial No. 63,366. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MARIA COOHRAN, acitizen of the United States of America, and a resident of New York, New York county, 5 State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Belt Fasteners, Clasps, or Buckles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in fasteners or buckles for belts adapted for use by women as an article of wearing-apparel. It relates more particularly to fasteners or buckles for belts used in connection with the so-called lowdip or extended waist,

The ordinary belt is troublesome-and an noying to the wearer, because of its tendency to rise and work up out of position, and thus 5 not properly performing its intended functions. Particularly is this true in the style or cut of dress or waist first above mentioned, where the front point of the same is extended so low that the belt encircling the waist of the wearer, which is considerably higher at the sides, is impelled'or drawn upward, and

without some auxiliary means to hold it down.

it is practically impossible to keep it in place. Such a tendency in the article is extremely troublesome to the wearer, being a source of constant annoyance, and has led to the production of various devices to overcome the difficulty. These devices commonly require some special mode of making the dress, skirt, or article with which it is to be worn, as cutting or forming openings in the apparel, through the medium of which the belt or fastener may be held depressed in the desired position, or in the use of pins and similar devices; but all of these are more or less expensive and troublesome or where pins and the like are used result in despoiling the material of the dress to which it is secured. Moreover, more time and attention is required to adjust and keep them in place than is desirable or than can conveniently be devoted to it.

wherein the front is extended much lower My invention contemplates an attachment for the fastener, clasp, or buckle which when the belt is placed about the waist and the fastener or buckle is adjusted in position will not allow the same to move upward from the adjusted position, nor, in fact, can it move downward or in any other direction from its position. At the same time the attachment can be applied to any fastener, clasp, or buckle, may be worn with any dress, and is entirely out of sight when in use. It does not require specially-made garments and does not cut, prick, or injure the outer garment in any way, and is, moreover, inexpensive to manufacture.

The belt attachment when formed in the manner shown in the drawings consists, it will be observed, of a vertical body or shank portion and of two reversely-benthook portions, the lower hook portion being upturned and adapted to serve as a hook-point for engaging the cloth of an undergarment. When applied to the back of a belt buckle or clasp in the manner shown and described, it is in the nature of a hook, having a shank portion which stands away from the back of the belt buckle or clasp and which is provided with an upturned point adapted, as stated, to engage the cloth of an undergarment, while the downwardly-projecting shank portion of the hook is adapted for insertion in the waistband of an outer garment. In this way the attachmentis completely out of sight when worn with a belt, and the upturned hook portion thus inserted back of the waistband of an outer garment engages the cloth of an undergarment, thereby avoiding the necessity of puncturing or mutilating the outer garment.

More particularly stated the invention comprises a fastener, clasp, or buckle adapted to secure the two ends of the belt together and having a reversely-bent hook or hooks attached to its back or rear side, by means of which the same is secured inplace, the first bent portion of the hook being adapted to slide over the top or band of the outer skirt or garment and the reverse portion, which is preferably sharp-pointed, being adapted to hook under or into the material or garment beneath, thus securing the hook in a moment of time, so that it can neither fall, creep up, or move sidewise.

- manner.

The invention further comprises the novel construction,parts, and combinations of parts hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forminga part hereof, in which the same reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is aview showing the style of dress with which the invention is particularly adapted for use. Fig. 2 isa View of the back face of the fastener or clasp, showing the same before the ends of the belt are secured together thereby. Fig. 3 is asimilar view showing the parts connected together. Fig. 4:18 a cross-sectional view on the line 4 4 of Fig. Fig. 5 is a rear perspective view of the modification, showing how the securing-hooks may not be permanently attached to the fastener or clasp and also how the securing-hooksm ay be duplicated; and Fig. 6 shows a different form of fastener or buckle to which the invention is applied.

In the figures the numeral 2 indicates the main or body portion of a fastener, clasp, or buckle of any ordinary type, the front face of which may be ornamented in any desired It may also be of any desired configuration and, as shown, is provided with a side projecting portion 3, bearing a staple 4, to which one end of the belt 5 may be secured, as shown. A tongue 6, formed integrally with the said body portion 2 or otherwise secured thereto, is provided to receive the slot 7 in a projection 8 on the eye portion 9 of the fastener, which eye portion is provided with a staple similar to staple t aforesaid, and in which the other end of the belt 5 is adapted to be secured. These parts are shown separated in Fig. 2 and together in the position in which they are worn in Fig. 3, with the hook 6 on the body portion 2 projecting through the slot 7 .in the eye portion 9. All this may be of the usual and ordinary construction of a fastener, clasp, or buckle and maybe of any desired form, size, and ornamentation.

These fasteners and belts are especially adapted to be worn, as in Fig. 1, with the waistlow-dipped, and to prevent the belt from working up I attach a reversely-bent hook to the back or rear face of the same, as shown in the other figures of the drawings. As seen in Fig. 4, the hook comprises an end portion 10, soldered or otherwise permanently attached to the back face of the body portion 2. The hook is then curved outwardly and extends downwardly at 11, the lower end of which is formed into a hook 12, as shown, the end of the same being preferably formed with a pin-point. This reversely-bent wire or similar part forms, it will be observed, a hook portion between the body 2 of the fastener and the straight portion 11 of the wire and also the upwardly-extending hook 12, as before explained.

The numeral 13 denotes the top or band of a garment, as a skirt 14., over which the first portion of the hook may be placed, while the numeral 15 designates the material of any garment which may be worn beneath the same.

The manner of using the device is quite simple. The belt is placed aboutthe waist, as shown in Fig. 1, and the ends hooked together, as shown in Fig. 3. The first portion of the hook is then slipped down over the waistband 13 of the skirt or outer garment and the hook 12 caught into the material of the garment 15 beneath. It is then impossible for the fastener or the belt to work up or down or in any other direction without special effort to that end.

As shown in the modification in Fig. 5, a plurality of such hooks may be employed. Moreover, it is not necessary that the said hook be permanently attached to the fastener or clasp. As shown, the loops 16 may be formed in the material of the fastener, or the loops may be secured thereto by solder or in any other desired manner, the hooksbeing sufficiently long to pass beneath both the upper and lower loops and being thereby held in place without the assistance of solder or other permanent means. As stated, these loops can be soldered to the back of the buckle or clasp, and in this way it is possible to employ any suitable form of belt buckle or clasp and to attach my improved hook device to a buckle or similar fastening means not especially designed therefor and not sold in 0011- nection therewith. Furthermore, whether the loops are attached to a buckle or clasp of any suitable form or whether the same are made a part of the specially-constructed buckle or clasp the hooks can be made dotachable and can consequently be removed when it is desired to dispense with them.

Fig. 6 further illustrates the use and scope of my improvements, in which a buckle of the ordinary type and having a tongue 17 is provided with the securing and retaining hook of my invention. Here the portion 10 of the hook is extended so as to pass both sides 18 of the buckle, to which it may be secured by solder or by some temporary means, as in the case of Fig. 5.

The use of the invention in all these forms is of course the same in manner, and it is to be understood that in any of the forms the number of such hooks may be increased or varied, as desired, and that they may be temporarily or permanently attached.

While I have shown and described the invention and the manner in which it is to be carried out with particular reference to the details of construction and arrangement, I would have it understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto, as various changes, alterations, and modifications may be made therein and still come within its scope and principle; but

What I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-- 1. The combination of a belt having a suitable clasp or buckle, and a hook applied to the back of said clasp or buckle, said hook having a shank portion adapted and arranged to stand away from the back of the clasp or buckle and thereby adapted to lie beneath or back of the waistband of an outer garment, and the hook being formed with an upturned point adapted to engage the cloth of an undergarment, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a belt havinga suitable clasp or buckle, and a hook applied as an attachment to the back of said clasp or buckle and adapted for holding the belt in place, said hook having a shank portion adapted to stand away from the back of the buckle or clasp and projecting downwardly beneath or back of the waistband of an outer garment, and the hook thus formed and applied being provided with an outwardly and upwardly projecting point adapted to engage the cloth of an undergarment, substantially as described.

3. A device adapted to be applied as an at tachment to ladies belts and adapted for holding the front of such belt down in place,consisting of awire with its end portions bent back in opposite directions to form a reversely-bent hook, one of such hook portions being adapted for attachment to the back of a belt buckle or clasp, so as to have the shank portion of the hook stand away from the back of such buckle or clasp, and the lower upturned hook portion being provided with a hook-point for engaging the cloth of an undergarment, the said shank portion by standing away from the back of the buckle or clasp being adapted for insertion back of the waistband of an outer garment, substantially as described.

Signed by me at Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, this 4th day of June, 1901.

MARIA COCHRAN.

Witnesses:

ROBERT LEWIS THUES, HARRY P; BAUMGARTNEB, 

